Armor
__TOC__ Overview ;Thickness Armor pieces protect either the Vitals or the Limbs. Attacks have an equal chance of landing on one area or the other. Armor Thickness is checked against the weapon's Penetration to see if the armor mitigates the damage inflicted. ;Quality The armor's Quality is also checked against the weapon's Quality. Regardless of penetration, the damage is adjusted in the higher-quality item's favor by 1 for every 10 points of difference, rounded down. Armor quality can be harmed by magical attacks and explosions. If Quality drops to zero the item is destroyed. ;Combat Summary Considering the above: the basic, "normal" damage value is an integer assigned to each weapon; i.e. Longsword 12, Mace 9. Then, the "displayed" damage is what is said-and-done, after penetration and thickness, and equipment qualities have been accounted for, as well as adjustments like Str, potions, saints, etc., given by the first table below. Then, End damage will be some random integer derived from the displayed damage, given by the table second-below. Then, Str damage will be a certain percentage of the End damage, given by the table third-below. The severity of these adjustments means that armor of sufficient thickness will generally prevent damage to Str. ;Weight Armor Weight is an important concern for characters. Some armors have the same thickness, but one kind will weigh less and be more expensive. Furthermore, Vitals armor weighs less than Limb armor. For example, chainmail is superior to brigandine simply because it weighs less, and if a character can only bear the weight of one metal armor piece, best make it the Vitals piece. Armor List Prices Acquisition Character Generation Certain background professions are tempting because they grant the character a suit of 25q armor with which to begin the adventure. A metal piece is a fine prize, because it is beyond the party's budget at the beginning. Nevertheless, do not age the character inordinately and harm his or her Attributes simply for the sake of the starting armor. Quickstart When recruited through the CharGen screen, the Quickstart party members bring along some unusually-strong armor, which they do not have when hitting Quickstart in the main menu: :Gretch - V.Plate, L.Chain :Gunther - V.Plate, L.Chain :Hans - V.Chain, L.Lthr :Ebhard - V.Plate, L.Chain Getting Started With urban bandit encounters in mind, new parties should gather up the funds to buy pieces of Brigandine or Chainmail. The best source is the Leihhaus, a 17q pawnshop located in the Markt in most cities. Only the armor thickness rating matters at the beginning; quality can wait. The highest-penetrating weapon the urban bandits carry is a club (3p). Brigandine's thickness of 4t will therefore immunize everyone against most or all of the Str damage that bandits can deal with their weapons. This turns these encounters into a reliable source of training and silver at very low risk. Getting Upgraded Robber knights and certain types of bandit-mercenary captains may give the party its first exposure to plate armor sans its extraordinary expense, but these suits will be worn-down by the process of acquisition (combat). Village blacksmiths carry unexpectedly-large selections of 25q armor. Because Scale and Plate are considered "rare" goods, they will come cheaper from villages than larger locations due to the quirks of the Darklands economy. The best armor that can be bought is the guild ware in cities. Another, weirder quirk of the Darklands economy is that the smithing guilds (the Armorer, Swordsmith, Blacksmith, and Bowyer) offer items outside of their specialty if the party approaches them at night. So, the best-quality armor might not even be from the armorer. The following cities have 35q craftsmen that may sell armor at some time during the day or night. Getting the Best According to the chart above, the best that can be bought, 39q, is from Teschen's bowyer at night. Teschen is a small city and not very likely to have a good selection. Nürnberg by day is a more likely source with 37q. The best Plate Armor that can be acquired elsewhere is from the Preceptor at the Fortress Monastery (45q V'' and ''L). The best vitals piece in particular (42q-49q) is a bribe, offered by a dwarf during the Mine crises, in exchange for walking away from the quest. Additional Notes *Armor looted from defeated foes has been reduced by 10q. *Items of identical quality are stacked together. If the character sustains a magical attack that damages his or her armor, any copies stacked with it are harmed. *Items generated by background careers, including armor, can be swapped around by party members within the CharGen screens. It is possible to generate characters, add them to the party, transfer their possessions to party members, and delete them. This exploit will make the beginning of the game too easy, though. Gallery aPadded.png|Clothing/Padded aLeather.png|Leather aStuddedLthr.png|Studded Leather aCuirbouilli.png|Cuirbouilli aScale.png|Scale aBrigandine.png|Brigandine aChainmail.png|Chainmail aPlateArmor.png|Plate Armor aShieldS.png|Small Shield aShieldML.png|Medium/Large Shield Category:Items